Our partner charities are warning that a neurology time bomb will catch the NHS unawares unless urgent action is taken now. Services are being run in a haphazard way with no clear strategy in place, and billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money are potentially being wasted.
This comes in the wake of the damning report into neurology services in England by the National Audit Office.
Neurology tsar and strategy needed
We’re calling for a targeted and properly resourced national outcomes strategy for neurological conditions. There also needs to be a national clinical director for neurology to oversee the strategy, drive improvements, and ensure that neurological services receive due attention amidst structural changes and beyond.
As Steve Ford, Chief Executive of Parkinson’s UK, puts it:
‘We need a leader to champion improvements – a neurology tsar, if you like, backed up with a plan and a strategy. When diabetes, cancer and stroke were assigned tsars, things really started to happen.’
Simon Gillespie, Chair of NCS and Chief Executive of the MS Society, said:
‘The Government now needs to send a clear message to everyone living with a neurological condition that these services are a priority, not at the bottom of a long list. That’s why we’re calling for a national outcomes strategy for neurological conditions – so that taxpayers’ money is better spent and people’s lives improve as a result.’
In his role as Chair of the Neurological Alliance, Steve Ford is giving evidence to the Public Accounts Committee on Wednesday 18 January 2012, to highlight problems with current services and put forward solutions for the future of neurology. He is speaking on behalf of Parkinson’s UK, the MS Society, the MND Association and Neurological Commissioning Support.